Teddy Tries
by Mitzzi
Summary: Teddy tries to belong, he really does. He wonders why it's not working. ONESHOT. For a forgotten orphan.


**Another bunny that wouldn't go away until I wrote it down. Just a few moments in Teddy's life. Please review and tell me what you think :)**

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><p>Teddy is five when he learns the truth about his parents. He's always known, in an abstract sort of way, that his dad and mom–Harry and Ginny–weren't his <em>real <em>parents, but it never mattered, because they acted like they were, and that was enough for him.

Ginny tells him about a beautiful woman _who can change her appearance, just like he can, _and Harry spins stories about a brave werewolf _who fought against a world of prejudice._ They tell him that his parents died, fighting for what was right and good. They tell him he should be proud to know he comes from brave and noble people like Remus Lupin and his wife Nymphadora (who always liked to be called Tonks).

Teddy smiles and nods, and says that he _is_ proud, of course he is, and his mom–_but she's not really, is she?_–tucks him into bed with a smile on her face. They tell him he should love his parents, be proud of them. Instead, Teddy tries not to hate them. For going off to fight, for risking leaving him all alone.

But he's not alone, so he can forgive them. Because he has Harry and Ginny, and they'll always be his dad and mom.

-X-

"Teddy, dear, we need to talk to you." Ginny says, breaking the silence as he slurps down his breakfast.

Teddy looks up with a grin, shaking the messy black hair that he has taken to wearing out of his face. It makes him look like Harry, people say, and with the new brother (James is their _real _son) he needs every tie to Harry that he can get. "Yeah, mom?"

She glances at Harry, as if for support, before he takes over, like he does with all serious topics. "Well, it's just about that, Teddy. We're glad that you feel like we're your parents, and we've tried to be an excellent godmother and godfather to you, but we're not your _real _parents, so you shouldn't call us that anymore."

Teddy pauses and he thinks his heart breaks, but Harry must have seen it on his face, so he continues quickly. "We love you like a son, we really do, but it's just that…well, you've known about your real parents for a while, and it's an insult to their memory to think of us in their place…"

He trails off, and Teddy nods, "All right, Uncle Harry." He swallows the lump in his throat and pushes back the burning _resentment_ and _hatehatehate_for the parents who left him and stole Harry away.

-X-

It's the first time he's been home since school has started, and Teddy is the first one to admit that he's a little nervous to be back. As he plays with the tie around his neck, _yellowandblack, because he's not really theirs, _he tries to imagine Harry's reaction to his sorting in person. The letters were nice enough, but never _really _captured any of Harry's feelings.

Nothing could prepare him for what he gets though, when Harry just gives him a small smile and says, "Your mother would have been proud, she was a Hufflepuff too, you know." Ginny just nods while she ruffles his hair, and Teddy is too scared to ask what either of _them _think, because it's just another chasm, setting them apart.

If he was _their _son, he would've been a Gryffindor.

-X-

It's been years since Teddy has graduated from Hogwarts when Lily arrives on his doorstep. She's obviously drunk, her words slurred as she raps on his door, yelling for him to come outside.

"What's wrong, Lily?" He asks, looking her up and down with concern.

She gives an incomprehensible answer, followed with a shrug, before reaching out to pull him into a kiss. He pulls back, quickly, as if burned, shaking his shaggy _blond _hair out of his eyes. (_He didn't want to wait until Harry asked him to change _that _too)._

"No," He says, "We can't do this."

She looks angry now as she pours her heart out to him. She's been in love with him since she was a kid. Was never happier than when his six years with Victoire went down the drain. Has been waiting and waitingandwaiting for this chance, until she was of age and old enough for him to take notice of her. And she wants him, she _loves _him, please, she begs, please.

He shakes his head, he can't, even if he was ever interested in her in the first place. "You're my sister, Lily. It would be…wrong."

"But it's not like you're my _actual _brother. You're not really related to any of us…!" She tries, and he slams the door in her face, ignoring the voice in his head that tells him she's right.

-X-

Teddy first hears that Harry is injured through rumors. Rumors of the Boy-Who-Lived, caught by some dark wizards, hit by a nasty curse, he's getting slower in his old age.

He ignores the rumors, of course. Someone would have told him if it was true. He's _family _after all. He stays up the first few nights, just in case, but no one floos his house in the middle of the night because of an emergency, or sends an angry patronus asking why he isn't at the hospital, so he blows off the rumors of Harry Potter's condition worsening.

That is, he blows off the rumors _until _an article is published in the Daily Prophet. Harry Potter is Dying, the title page reads, Hours Left Until our Hero Leaves us Forever. Teddy is at the hospital in a minute, pushing past security and stunning anyone who tries to stop him.

He pauses for breath on the third floor and he sees them, a tearful Ginny and Lily leaving a room as a solemn Albus and James wait outside. As inconspicuously as possible he peaks in the door, while the rest of the Potter's huddle together at the end of the hall. He knows Harry sees him from the wry smile he sends in his direction, even as he bleeds himself dry onto the hospital bed.

Teddy is stopped from going inside by an permanent auror who is stationed at Harry's bedside, supposed to make sure that no one Harry doesn't want to see bothers him in his last moments. Teddy tries to explain the situation, but the guard remains unmovable until Harry calls the auror back to his bedside.

"My sons…" He rasps, "I want…to see…them. My…s…sons."

The auror nods, and calls Albus and James inside, motioning them over from across the long white hallway. Harry doesn't correct him. Teddy thinks he should know better than to expect him to.

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><p><strong>R&amp;R<strong>

**~Mitzzi**


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